Banque Internationale à Luxembourg seeks €2.5–3B sale under Chinese ownership

Luxembourg’s oldest private bank is on the block, and the price tag tells a compelling story about how much value can be built (or simply inflated) in less than a decade of ownership. Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, better known as BIL, is being marketed for sale at a valuation of €2.5 to €3 billion. That’s a healthy markup from the €1.48 billion that China’s Legend Holdings paid for its 90% stake back in 2017. Goldman Sachs is running the process, and initial bids were expected by the end of September. A 170-year-old institution changes hands again BIL was founded in 1856, making it not just Luxembourg’s oldest bank but a living artifact of the country’s evolution into one of Europe’s most important financial hubs. The bank operates across retail banking, corporate banking, and wealth management, with a footprint spanning Luxembourg and Switzerland. Legend Holdings, the Chinese conglomerate best known as the parent company behind Lenovo, picked up its controlling stake from Precision Capital, a Qatari-linked investment vehicle that had itself acquired BIL during the Dexia breakup in 2011-2012. The Luxembourg government holds the remaining 10% of BIL, and that stake is not part...